Second Chance Read: Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Anna and the French Kiss
Author: Stephanie Perkins
Release Date: October 11, 2011
Publisher: Listening Library
Format: Audiobook
Source: Overdrive/Library
Review by: Jenn

Kim Mai Guest (Narrator)

Anna was looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. So she's less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris—until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, perfect, Étienne has it all ... including a serious girlfriend.

But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

Stephanie Perkins keeps the romantic tension crackling and the attraction high in a debut guaranteed to make toes tingle and hearts melt.

4 stars out of 5 stars

Listening to the audiobook of one of my favorite YA contemporary novels was going back and falling in love with characters that I know so well. The narrator for this book bought the character alive and made me feel like I was reading Perkins' book was for the first time. I fell in love with the setting and characters and it gave me the wanderlust to visit Paris. Wonderful narration of an already beautiful story.

If you already read and loved this book in it's print version, you will love the audiobook. And if you haven't already read this book, go read/listen to it!

Quotes (#143)

Source

Morning Lovelies,

My lazy weekend went by much too quickly and now I'm regretting not doing any of the stuff I originally planned. I guess I should rethink my being a bum schedule. Anyways, I did finished two books this weekend so not all was lost. I finished the audiobook of Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins and The Ruby Circle by Richelle Mead. So today's quotes will be on those two great books!

“The more you know who you are, and what you want, the less you let things upset you.” - Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“I mean, really. Who sends their kid to boarding school? It's so Hogwarts. Only mine doesn't have cute boy wizards or magic candy or flying lessons.” - Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“So what do I wish for? Something I'm not sure I want? Someone I'm not sure I need? Or someone I know I can't have?” - Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“For the two of us, home isn't a place. It is a person. And we are finally home.” - Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

“Being with you is the best thing that's ever happened to me, the one perfect decision I've made in a lifetime of fumbling and poor judgment. I'd go through it all again to be by your side. Never doubt that. Never doubt how I feel about you.” - Richelle Mead, The Ruby Circle

“I told you before, we’re the center,” she said. “And the center will hold.” - Richelle Mead, The Ruby Circle

“That creature's staying?' It figured. Her daughter-in-law transforming into an animal? No problem. Having to take care of a cat? Crisis. ” - Richelle Mead, The Ruby Circle

I hope you all have a great week!

Stacking the Shelves (#28)

Stacking the Shelves, which is hosted by Team Tynga's Reviews, is all about sharing the books you are adding to your shelves, may it be physical or virtual. This mean you can include books you buy in a physical store or online, books you borrow from friends or the library, review books, gifts and of course, ebooks.

Happy Sunday!

For the month of December and January these are the books we received/bought/borrowed. 

For review I received:

Finished copy of SMART GIRL by Rachel Hollis

Finished copy of THE ONE FOR ME by Sydney Landon

Finished copy of WICKED SEXY LIAR by Christina Lauren

WALK THE EDGE by Katie McGarry

Nahomi got these for Christmas:

A COURT OF THORNS AND ROSE by Sarah J. Maas
QUEEN OF SHADOWS by Sarah J. Maas
HEIR OF FIRE by Sarah J. Maas
CROWN OF MIDNIGHT by Sarah J. Maas
THRONE OF GLASS by Sarah J. Maas
THE ASSASSIN'S BLADE by Sarah J. Maas

Audiobooks we borrowed from the library:

LAST SACRIFICE by Richelle Mead

TWILIGHT by Stephenie Meyer

ANNA AND THE FRENCH KISS by Stephanie Perkins

MINI SHOPAHOLIC by Sophie Kinsella

SHOPAHOLIC TO THE STARS by Sophie Kinsella

SHOPAHOLIC TO THE RESCUE by Sophie Kinsella

THE ALCHEMIST by Paulo Coelho

THE MOON AND MORE by Sarah Dessen

CINDER by Marissa Meyere

SCARLET by Marissa Meyer

CRESS by Marissa Meyer

FAIREST by Marissa Meyer

WINTER by Marissa Meyer

Whooo! It been busy over here! What have you added to your shelves?

Favorite Friday (#36) - Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins

Have a favorite book? Series? One that you've just read or are currently reading? Favorite Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Books and Swoons where we spotlight some of our Favorite Reads. Everyone is welcome to join. Just enter your information on the linky or leave us a comment!

This week pick is: Lola and the Boy Next Door by Stephanie Perkins.

Lola Nolan is a budding costume designer, and for her, the more outrageous, sparkly, and fun the outfit, the better. And everything is pretty perfect in her life (right down to her hot rocker boyfriend) until the Bell twins, Calliope and Cricket, return to the neighborhood. When Cricket, a gifted inventor, steps out from his twin sister's shadow and back into Lola's life, she must finally reconcile a lifetime of feelings for the boy next door.

This is a great story full of wonderful characters! Lola is creative and unique. Cricket is sooo sweet! It was fun to read and left me with a smile on my face in the end. Ooh and I can't forget to mention that  I got to catch up with Anna and St. Clair!

About the author:

Hi, there! I'm Stephanie Perkins, and I'm the New York Times and international bestselling author of Anna and the French Kiss, Lola and the Boy Next Door, and Isla and the Happily Ever After, as well as the editor of the romantic holiday anthology My True Love Gave to Me. I was born in South Carolina, raised in Arizona, attended universities in San Francisco and Atlanta, and now I live in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.

My best friend is my husband Jarrod. Our house is almost a hundred years old, and every room is painted a different color of the rainbow. We share it with a cat named Mr. Tumnus.

I've always worked with books—first as a bookseller, then as a librarian, and now as a novelist. On weekdays, you'll find me at my desk, typing away, downing cups of coffee and tea. On the weekend, you'll find me at the movies, waiting for the actors to kiss. I believe all novels and films should have more kissing.

Author's links: Website / Goodreads / Twitter

I hope you can join us in sharing and talking about some of your favorite reads. Book talk always make me happy. 

What are one of your favorite reads?

Day 5 of the 14 Days of Fictional Swoon Blog Hop - Masters of Swoons

Morning Swooners,

I'm super excited to be able to participate in this blog hop hosted by the lovely ladies from Fic Fare and the Swoony Boys Podcast. Over the next week and a half, 25 blogs will be hosting giveaways and a scavenger hunt where each blog participating will have an assigned word/phrase that needs to be found before being able to enter the grand giveaway. The word/phrase will be highlighted/bolded somewhere throughout the post. 

                                   

There come a point in every book lover's life where they just KNOW of an author that can provide them with the most sweetest, swooniest, dream-worthy, bring the feels, knows how make the book come alive for you author. And if we're really lucky, we can name several authors that just know how to provide the swoons. Today we have this list.

Our Masters of Swoons are as follows: 

Jennifer's pick:

1. Gayle Forman

2. Tahereh Mafi

3. Sarah J. Maas

4. Stephanie Perkins

5. Michelle Hodkin

Nahomi's pick:

1. Jane Austen

2. Kristi Cook

3. Jennifer L. Armentrout

4. Cora Carmack

5. Christina Lauren

I don't know about you guys, but this list gives me the excite!feels. 

than you think

Now, for the giveaway portion of the show. Nahomi and I decided we wanted to give away a copy of her newest fave swooniest book, Magnolia by Kristi Cook. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For the grand blog hop giveaway, you need to enter here:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

14 Days of Fictional Swooning Schedule

• February 1st- Fiction Fare 
• February 1st- Swoony Boys Podcast 
• February 2nd- Literary, etc.
• February 3rd- Adventures in YA Publishing
• February 3rd- A Soul Unsung: Book Gossip for the Soul
• February 4th- Bookish Things & More
• February 5th- Books and Swoons
• February 5th- Love at First Page 
• February 6th- Awesome Book Nuts
• February 6th- Mainstream Passionista
• February 6th- The Book Sphere 
• February 7th- I Turn the Pages
• February 7th- Andi's ABCs
• February 8th- Na's Not So Newsworthy Thoughts
• February 8th- WhoRUBlog
• February 9th- Gun in Act One
• February 9th- We So Nerdy 
• February 10th- What Sarah Read
• February 10th- Flutters and Flails
• February 11th- The Book Addict's Guide 
• February 11th- Effortlessly Reading
• February 11th- Lostbraincell's Bookish Blog
• February 12th- GReads!
• February 12th- Books Equal Awesomeness
• February 13th- My Friends Are Fiction
• February 13th- Lee Kelly: New Write City
• February 14th- Fiction Fare 
• February 14th- Swoony Boys Podcast

Thanks so much for stopping by and for Jaime, Erin, Meg, and Kassiah for hosting this awesome blog hop.

YALLFest Recap + Giveaway

Morning Swooner's,
I am really late with my recap post of YALLFest as you can see, but I wanted to share some of the pictures I took while I was there. I met a lot of interesting people while waiting in the lines and had a great time meeting the authors.

Blue Bicycle Books 

 Sarah Dessen

Kiera Cass

Ann Brashares

I had a blast throughout the entire experience. Although I didn't get to see all of the authors I wanted because the lines were so long, I did get to most of the authors on my list.

So, in honor of this great experience we've decided to do a GIVEAWAY! We thought long and hard about which book to give away and finally decided on My True Love Gave to Me: Twelve Holiday Stories edited by Stephanie Perkins. What I love about this book is that the winner will get a choice between the UK cover and US cover. The giveaway will run for two weeks, so be sure to enter for your chance to win a copy of this wonderful book. (Please be aware that this is a US only giveaway)

The Giveaway

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Quotes (#90)

Morning Lovelies,

Another weekend has passed us by, bringing us another Monday. Joy. For me, this mean the start of another semester. This time, I'll be taking three classes instead of two. I'm a little nervous about it because working full time and going to school part time means I really need to prioritize my time. I'm especially trying my hardest to get focus on school since I wasn't the greatest of student. This time it means more. At least I have Nahomi who I can depend on to pick up the slack here on the blog. And in my life. Because let's be real, you always need your bestie in your corner.

And because I'm starting school, I need some extra good juju. I figure I should post some of my favorite quotes from some of my favorite books to get the creative juices going. Let's check them out.

“He pulls me around and kisses me. "You're Mac," he says. "And I'm Jericho. And nothing else matters. Never will. You exist in a place that is beyond all rules for me. Do you understand that?" I do. Jericho Barrons just told me he loves me.” ― Karen Marie Moning, Shadowfever

“Phones are distracting. The internet is distracting.The way he looked at you? He wasn't distracted. He was consumed.” ― Stephanie Perkins, Isla and the Happily Ever After

“I’ve never met anyone like her, as strong-willed as me and yet, just handing me everything, letting me take her apart one touch at a time.” ― Christina Lauren, Dirty Rowdy Thing

“So, as I was saying, guys and girls can be friends. Best friends. And what's better than falling in love with your best friend? Nothing.” ― Elizabeth Eulberg, Better off Friends

“I like the way I feel about myself when I'm with him." I say quietly. "Warner thinks I'm strong and smart and capable and he actually values my opinion. He makes me feel like his equal--like I can accomplish just as much as he can, and more. And if I do something incredible, he's not even surprised. He expects it. He doesn't treat me like I'm some fragile little girl who needs to be protected all the time.” ― Tahereh Mafi, Ignite Me

“Emergency dance party--go away.” ― Rainbow Rowell, Fangirl

“She was the heir of ash and fire, and she would bow to no one.” ― Sarah J. Maas, Heir of Fire

Aren't they all just awesome and kick ass? I love each these books to pieces. Hopefully they inspire me to have a great week. Which I hope you all have. See you guys next time!

Favorite Friday - Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

Have a favorite book? Series? One that you've just read or are currently reading? Favorite Friday is a weekly meme hosted by Books and Swoons where we spotlight some of our Favorite Reads. Everyone is welcome to join. Just enter your information on the linky or leave us a comment!

For our first time doing Favorite Friday, I've decided to go with a book that first gave me my first dose of swoonage. Prior to this book, I used to think that there were some sweet and romantic moments in books but I easily moved on (Sometimes). But this book? Man oh man, that's when I really learn about what book boyfriends really mean. I guess I should say which book I'm talking about, right? Ok, it is......

Anna is looking forward to her senior year in Atlanta, where she has a great job, a loyal best friend, and a crush on the verge of becoming more. Which is why she is less than thrilled about being shipped off to boarding school in Paris--until she meets Étienne St. Clair. Smart, charming, beautiful, Étienne has it all...including a serious girlfriend.
But in the City of Light, wishes have a way of coming true. Will a year of romantic near-misses end with their long-awaited French kiss?

This book has everything I love: banter, smart and great characters, swoony moments, and Étienne St. Clair ;) I may have had book boyfriends prior to Étienne, he really was the one to introduce back in to the YA world after leaving for a couple of years.

There are two other books in this world Stephanie Perkins has created. One of which just came out last week and made the NYT Bestsellers list!! If you haven't heard of it, it this little book called Isla and the Happily Ever After. It is SOOOOO good and funny and swoony and and and....AHHH. Go out and read this companions novels because you'll kick yourself if you don't. 

Well, hello! I'm Stephanie Perkins, and I write novels for teens (and for adults who aren't afraid to admit that teen books are awesome). I was born in South Carolina, raised in Arizona, attended universities in San Francisco and Atlanta, and now I live in the mountains of Asheville, North Carolina.
My best friend is my husband Jarrod. Our house is almost a hundred years old, and every room is painted a different color of the rainbow. We share it with a cat named Mr. Tumnus.
I've always worked with books—first as a bookseller, then as a librarian, and now as a novelist. On weekdays, you'll find me at my desk, typing away, downing cups of coffee and tea. On the weekend, you'll find me at the movies, waiting for the actors to kiss. I believe all novels and films should have more kissing. 

Author's links: Website / Twitter / Tumblr

I hope you can join us on sharing and talking about some of favorite reads. Book talk always make me happy. 

What is one of your favorite reads?

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